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January 2014 Minutes

Called to order 7:10, with standard room introductions and immediate pizza and drinks.

One introduction was longtime EVADC member Mindy Kimball, visiting from Phoenix. Mindy has the only Smart ED in Arizona (brought from California)… and a utility headache, with lobbyists and astroturfers trying to beat back home solar installations. However, she does have a Time-Of-Use rate of under a penny a kWh at night.

The Tesla Model S has become the #1 selling car in Norway. Not #1 electric… #1 car.

Two representatives of Riide brought their prototype e-bike. Amber Wason and Jeff Stefanis showed a running, steel prototype of their $1799 aluminum machine. Good systems engineering means this beats e-bikes now on the market; I’ll go into more detail on that. Riide is funded but accepting more Kickstarter contributions before production begins. After the meeting, some took a demo ride.

Josh Goldman of the Union of Concerned Scientists spoke on their recent EV survey. The UCS is proposing halving our oil consumption; while the improved mileage standard certainly helps, consumer adoption of EVs would save over a million barrels a day. Not gallons, barrels. A day. While the limiting factor was a home parking space with outlet, that still left 42% of households EV-eligible; range is already practical now.

President Emeritus Dave Goldstein updated our DC Auto Show plans. “Interesting” vehicles, such as conversions, were solicited instead of OEMs; three DC Grand Prix racers will be displayed. EV volunteers were needed to work the floor, particularly during the week. It’s mostly answering the same questions over and over, in exchange for an exhibitor badge. Load-in is either Tuesday, 1/21 or Wednesday. A motion was made to spend $500 on show expenses, and passed.

This led to a discussion on club finances; the organization is sitting on significant funds, and is interested in something more remunerative than a savings account. Initial volunteers stepped forward for a finance committee. Further discussions were tabled for time.

Bill Elliott spoke for an indisposed Nabih Bedewi. The 2014 EV Grand Prix has drawn about twice as many high schools for this Spring’s edition. It now has an interesting problem: too many choices of venue, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Even more were suggested from members. While none appeared the obvious winner, we are being actively offered sites, and in one case money. However, not at the same time; the choice of site must be a compromise of logistics and funding. All have some peculiarities and costs. One possible date offered by a site is May 10, back a bit from our initial targets.

Bob Bruniga updated us on charging at government facilities; negotiations still underway. He challenged the notion of “payback time” for EVs versus internal combustion. Math in dollar terms do not value emissions, at which point EVs already win. One car requires about a hundred trees planted, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. He then showed his spider charger, an EVSE extension to distribute power to multiple stalls via timer. An existing EVSE would give 4 employee vehicles at least ten extra miles per day, with the biggest cost being the J1772 hardware.

The meeting was called at 9:07, except for two last blurbs. Montgomery County is holding an open policy hearing on January 28, and needs citizen speakers. Four electric Ford Rangers from California are coming onto the used market.